The increase was mainly due to the company’s investments in jointly owned projects, oil and gas analyst Svetlana Grizan at brokerage VTB Capital said.

The company’s share of net income of associated undertakings and jointly controlled entities totalled 27.25bn roubles in the quarter, she said.

Analysts said net profit also rose because the figure in the third quarter of 2008 was hit by a downward revision in the value of its option to buy a 20 per cent stake in its oil arm, Gazprom Neft from Italy’s Eni.